Elementals, Elves and Fae

I'm still on that wonderful path to self discovery, and I'm running into some confusion. I'll explain a bit of the background before I get to the questions.

I have labeled myself "Earth Elemental", but knew that wasn't going to be the end. I guess you could say that it was similar to the "kingdom" of my race, and I eventually wanted to get down to "species". (Scientific Classification) That's as close as I can get to my thought process on that.

I came to "Earth Elemental" in a bit of an odd way: I worked backwards. First came to the conclusion of being an Elemental, then found the element. It was a bit difficult, because I felt such affinity for both Earth and Air. I love nature dearly, and always have. It's a major part of my life. But yet, I have very distinct memories of the feeling of flying. Not in a flapping sort of way, though. More like...propelled by my own energy. Also, I'm not exactly sure which element this falls into, but I am forever stepping outside to get some "fresh air". (just examples)

In trying to narrow it down, I've been thinking, researching, meditating, etc., and I keep coming back to Elves and Fae (note that I believe there is little difference between the two). I did research about Elementals at first, but found very little information. So instead I found the information within myself. And now, a few months later, here I am reading the Fae posts on this board, and it pretty much matches with what I discovered within, with what I had started out as labeling "Elemental". So far my opinion is that Fae are a type of Elemental. I'm tempted to take the Fae label, because it just seems to click for this step of the process. But I want to do more thinking, and make sure it's right, before/if I take it.


Ok, whew. Got through that part. Now to the questions.

For anyone:
-In your opinion/belief, what is the difference between Elementals and Fae?
-Between Elves and Fae?
-What do you know about Wyldfae?
-Do you have any advice on making sure I'm doing this part of the process as best I can?

For elves and/or fae specifically:
-Do you have a larger amount of visual memories than other memories (feelings, hearing, etc)?
-If you remember, what do you remember about what Faerie looked like, as compared to how humans view the Earth now?
-Do you have an affinity to night?

Thanks so much for reading!

Eternity Wrote:-In your opinion/belief, what is the difference between Elementals and Fae?

I use "elemental" to refer to beings, especially energy beings, made of an element or having a particularly strong connection to that element.

That said, I don't think that the earth/air/fire/water set of elements makes any sense whatsoever. The point of that concept is that all things are meant to be composed of those elements . . . it's out-dated, inaccurate science that has since been replaced by something that makes more sense. To me, bad science is not a good basis for spirituality.

The concept of elements in terms of energies/traits only makes sense to me if they are abstract or energetic concepts, not physical ones (unless someone is essence of uranium, for example).

"Fae", on the other hand, simply refers to any denizen of a world called Fae or Faerie or something along those lines. It is an Earth-like planet with similar geography and a lot more magic/magic-users, connected to Earth at various points. I am in two minds as to whether or not it actually exists or is just metaphor.

Quote:-Between Elves and Fae?

A Fae is any being from "Planet Fae", of any kind.

"Elf" is a blanket term that refers to any humanoid being with magical associations.

Quote:-What do you know about Wyldfae?

Never heard of it, but if it's just a deliberately odd spelling of "wild fae", then I am immediately skeptical.

Quote:-Do you have any advice on making sure I'm doing this part of the process as best I can?

My advice is always to look for evidence before looking for answers. That's basically it.

Thanks so much Archer =)

Eternity Wrote:For anyone:
-In your opinion/belief, what is the difference between Elementals and Fae?
-Between Elves and Fae?
-What do you know about Wyldfae?
-Do you have any advice on making sure I'm doing this part of the process as best I can?

We don't really use the term "elemental" nor do we really work much with the idea. As we understand the common usage, elementals are energetic-embodiments of the magical elements. We consider Fae to be low-rank (i.e. less powerful individually than a god or demigod) spirits, covering a wide range of entities. We delineate between Fae and other spirits of equivalent power by a rather rough boundary. Anything from a landspirit to a civilization-dwelling spirit with a somewhat earthlike home habitat (whether in a forest, within a mountain, underwater, etc.) Very generic, I know.

Properly, elves are the alfar, a particular species of Fae described in the lore of particular regions. We've given into the common use of the term to also apply to at-least-somewhat alfar-like beings as well, such as the Elenari. By that token we would also call sidhe an elflike type of Fae, but we generally don't apply the word to them because...well...they're sidhe and they have a good term to use already.

We've never heard of Wyldfae before. I would ask the person(s) using the term exactly what they mean and how they arrived at that name for it; it may be a perfectly real and uniquely identifiable type of spirit but it's definitely not based in old-timey lore and knowing the definition may serve you better than knowing the term as you look deeper.

Read lore from lots of different places. Read about modern folk's experiences too. Take notes. Take notes on your self-discovery as well; memory is easily distorted (take it from someone with a psych degree) even in this life and documentation is not just proof that you knew it before you found corroborating evidence, it's a way of being sure you haven't muddled it up with what you've read. Also documenting when you encounter new ideas is a good idea, to give you a timeline showing what might have possibly influenced you on a subconscious level.

And, as a group of people who are getting comfortable with the idea that it's extremely hard to prove what we believe, treasure the fact that this is your personal mythology, a reflection of your truth, even if it seems at some points that it might not be objectively true at all. It means something about you no matter whether you find a connection to anything anyone else has experienced, or whether you come to the conclusion that you stitched it together out of fiction you'd read and mundane experiences you didn't want to accept. It's still part of you and valuable, regardless.

Eternity Wrote:For elves and/or fae specifically:
-Do you have a larger amount of visual memories than other memories (feelings, hearing, etc)?
-If you remember, what do you remember about what Faerie looked like, as compared to how humans view the Earth now?
-Do you have an affinity to night?

Not so much visual. We're pretty tactile in general and our past-life memories (if such they are) follow the same pattern. We'll have a sense of the layout of a room around us, the nearness of a person whose qualities we feel as we do the presence of a headmate, a sudden recall of a fact relating to what's going on around us but no further context. Very like our this-life thoughts and memories.

We lived in different realms entirely; I'm not sure if it would be "fair" to compare them to this world. The first, which only Rhun remembers, was nothing like Earth - more like living on the body of our Creator from whom we were emanated after living as part of its hive-being. We have no visuals for that, just feelings. (This is the most woo-woo part of our memories, if you hadn't guessed...)

The second was forested. We built homes there, I"m not sure of the material used but they were partly on the ground and partly belowground. The third was similar but mostly if not entirely underground. Sapphire, who is a different type of Fae, lived on a plain near the water with relatively primitive-looking houses built of mud and clay, then underground in something a bit similar to WoW's Ironforge minus the gigantic forge.

We tend to like the night but we have entirely mundane reasons for that. We have depression-related insomnia and staying up into the late hours is a way to put off sleeping as we subconsciously learned to do so that we can put off dreaming bad dreams (and until very recently we assumed they'd all be bad)... I wouldn't put any weight on this; back home, it seems we enjoyed the day and the night for their own merits, and were comfortable being awake during both as it was appropriate.

-Shainin

Thank you, House Hesson, that was quite helpful =)

Eternity Wrote:In trying to narrow it down, I've been thinking, researching, meditating, etc., and I keep coming back to Elves and Fae (note that I believe there is little difference between the two).

I believe you're incorrect <!-- s --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s --> Not that they are not somewhat close to one another, but I wouldn't describe the difference as "little". If I stand some fae next to some elves (by which I mean otherkin of both types) and "look" at them both, there is a definite energetic difference -- a thread of "elvenness" which is different from a thread of "faeryness" -- besides the various etheric-physical differences such as height and build, presence of animalistic features that is much more common in fae, presence or absence of wings, affinity for things like shapeshifting, etc. I consider it to be a spectrum, with sidhe actually falling in between elves and fae, at least in terms of look and feel, if you will (taxonomically I consider sidhe to be a type of faery in the broadest sense).

Quote:So far my opinion is that Fae are a type of Elemental.

I disagree with this too. I agree with Archer that elementals are energy beings made up of an element. (I disagree, though, that Faery is a planet. The word "world" is fine but it is not a physical ball of rock like Earth; "dimension" or "plane" might be better. It is a spiritual or etheric world.) While faery can be aligned to an element, this does not make them elementals in that sense. Nature spirits (river spirits, tree spirits, rock spirits...) also are not elementals IMO/IME; they inhabit natural phenomena rather than being the spiritual force that makes them up in the first place. And for that matter nature spirits are not the same as faery, although there can be considerable overlap in appearance and domicile. I think there is a spectrum here of size and independence of consciousness. Elementals have a tendency to occur in "hives" although some are bigger than others with consciousnesses more like those we'd recognize with these human brains.

Quote:-In your opinion/belief, what is the difference between Elementals and Fae?
-Between Elves and Fae?

Got to these above, I think. Like Archer, a faery can be basically any being from Faery, so it's a very broad umbrella. Just to confuse things more, there are also elves which are "from Faery".

Quote:-What do you know about Wyldfae?

I haven't heard this term outside of the old, old e-list "wyldefae". They seemed to be using the concept looselt to mean less organized, independent, courtless, but also just for the "gypsy" kind of cachet.

Quote:-Do you have a larger amount of visual memories than other memories (feelings, hearing, etc)?

Yes, but I'd be hesitant to relate this to my kin-type, rather than to my current biology/psychology. Why do you ask?

Quote:-If you remember, what do you remember about what Faerie looked like, as compared to how humans view the Earth now?

You can't quite compare it to Earth because, as I said above, it's not a physical place in the same sense. It overlaps with Earth's "underworld" in some places. Shining, glittering, glimmering, glowing; multicoloured, intense colours (except perhaps in the Winter-lands); self-luminous land; twilight sky without sun or moon ("the greylight"), but often with stars; changeable in many places, illusory (but "held" in some places by various lord-types, who form the land to their desire and keep it there). Not very beholden to the laws of physics as we know them, so if you could imagine it and had sufficient power to shape with, you could probably make it somewhere.

Quote:Do you have an affinity to night?

Yes, but again I wonder where you're going with this exactly. An affinity to stars specifically is quite common among elves and sidhe and to a lesser degree (IME) among other kinds of faery. My personal belief is that sidhe particularly (less sure about other fey) originated as a kind of celestial, hence the folkloric belief in some places that the faery are angels that were "too bad for Heaven, too good for Hell". If you mean night considered as a time of day and the associated concepts of darkness, shadows, etc., then also yes, but that's me personally and I don't really link it to being fey.

Eternity Wrote:-What do you know about Wyldfae?

Now I know why that term sounds so familiar! If I'm not mistaken, the term wyldfae was used in the Dresden series by Jim Butcher. It referred to any type of fae who fell under the Winter court and Queen Mab. Other than that, I don't believe I've ever heard it before.

Well first I would like to thank you both for replying as well. =)

Eshari Wrote:I believe you're incorrect <!-- s --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s --> Not that they are not somewhat close to one another, but I wouldn't describe the difference as "little". If I stand some fae next to some elves (by which I mean otherkin of both types) and "look" at them both, there is a definite energetic difference -- a thread of "elvenness" which is different from a thread of "faeryness" -- besides the various etheric-physical differences such as height and build, presence of animalistic features that is much more common in fae, presence or absence of wings, affinity for things like shapeshifting, etc. I consider it to be a spectrum, with sidhe actually falling in between elves and fae, at least in terms of look and feel, if you will (taxonomically I consider sidhe to be a type of faery in the broadest sense).

Quote:a faery can be basically any being from Faery, so it's a very broad umbrella. Just to confuse things more, there are also elves which are "from Faery".

Then an Elf from Faery would be an Elf, as well as Fae, because it is from Faery? If they overlap, then I do not see much difference. However, I can totally respect your opinions/beliefs. =)

Quote:I disagree with this too. I agree with Archer that elementals are energy beings made up of an element. (I disagree, though, that Faery is a planet. The word "world" is fine but it is not a physical ball of rock like Earth; "dimension" or "plane" might be better. It is a spiritual or etheric world.) While faery can be aligned to an element, this does not make them elementals in that sense. Nature spirits (river spirits, tree spirits, rock spirits...) also are not elementals IMO/IME; they inhabit natural phenomena rather than being the spiritual force that makes them up in the first place. And for that matter nature spirits are not the same as faery, although there can be considerable overlap in appearance and domicile. I think there is a spectrum here of size and independence of consciousness. Elementals have a tendency to occur in "hives" although some are bigger than others with consciousnesses more like those we'd recognize with these human brains.

To me, elementals can be two types of beings. One, as you described, or any being under the umbrella term "elemental", such as centaurs, satyrs, mermaids, fae, nature spirits, etc. Much like the term "cat". It can refer to housecats, or any member of the feline family (lions, tigers, etc.) In identifying myself as elemental, I am referring to the latter definition.

Quote:Yes, but I'd be hesitant to relate this to my kin-type, rather than to my current biology/psychology. Why do you ask?

Referring to past life memories, sorry for the confusion. I was wondering if this was a common thing.

Quote:Yes, but again I wonder where you're going with this exactly. An affinity to stars specifically is quite common among elves and sidhe and to a lesser degree (IME) among other kinds of faery. My personal belief is that sidhe particularly (less sure about other fey) originated as a kind of celestial, hence the folkloric belief in some places that the faery are angels that were "too bad for Heaven, too good for Hell". If you mean night considered as a time of day and the associated concepts of darkness, shadows, etc., then also yes, but that's me personally and I don't really link it to being fey.

In researching Fae folklore, I've noticed that a lot of the human-fae encounters take place at night, or twilight. I was wondering, therefore, if Fae or Elf kin have an affinity to night. In other words, trying to find "truth" in the myths, and reading between the lines a bit.

Thanks again for answering this. Hope I didn't come across as hostile. =)

Eternity Wrote:Then an Elf from Faery would be an Elf, as well as Fae, because it is from Faery? If they overlap, then I do not see much difference. However, I can totally respect your opinions/beliefs. =)

The Shiri are a group of elves who left their homeworld and ended up on Fae; as a result, they are elves with a distinctly fae-type energy. We have at least one on OKP, she might be able to chime in.

Quote:In researching Fae folklore, I've noticed that a lot of the human-fae encounters take place at night, or twilight. I was wondering, therefore, if Fae or Elf kin have an affinity to night. In other words, trying to find "truth" in the myths, and reading between the lines a bit.

I'd say that's simply because at night and in twilight humans don't see as well, and given that sight is the primary human sense, humans are more inclined to go "WOO WOO WTF IS THAT!" at night. In other words, they probably aren't encountering fae or elves, they're seeing things and saying "Bet that was some kinda critter!"

Eternity Wrote:-In your opinion/belief, what is the difference between Elementals and Fae?
-Between Elves and Fae?
-What do you know about Wyldfae?

- Well, most of what I'd say was already said and I couldn't explain better. I never gave particular thoughts to what elementals are. For me, I think, elementals are some kind of personification of said magical element. Some mistake Fae with "the ethereal beings that make Nature work", which would maybe be elementals, but not Fae. A Faerie can have particular affinity with this or that element, but still they can't be called elementals.
- I think I can say I agree with Eshari on that matter =)
- Never heard of it. But I would go for the concept of courtless, independent and well... wild faeries. Which by the way I identify myself with.

Eternity Wrote:-Do you have a larger amount of visual memories than other memories (feelings, hearing, etc)?
-If you remember, what do you remember about what Faerie looked like, as compared to how humans view the Earth now?
-Do you have an affinity to night?

- Uhm, nope. My memories are most about feelings and sensations and "concepts", instead of any kind of physical senses. I think some of the only visual memories of the Fae I have is the twilight, woods and glow. But everything can be very shape-shifting. It's easier to recognize a place by its mood and feel than by its looks.

- Well, I like to be awaken at night since before I was born (my mother says). I feel more like myself at the time, more inspired, more inclined to clarity and communication and creation. It's like I'm the better, enhanced, real me at night. But I am afraid of the dark most of the time, heh. And someone mentioned the stars - that is right. Much affinity to the stars.